Opening Day in virtually every other town is considered the first home game.

In Detroit, it is a once-a-year occasion regarded as a holiday.

As an event, the Tigers' home opener Friday didn't disappoint. It was bright and sunny. The traditional early-April chill was, perfectly, in the air. More than 45,000 people crammed into Comerica Park. It was the largest crowd for Opening Day since the stadium debuted in 2000 - and the second biggest for any Tigers' outing at the site.

The best part, however, was the game: What is anticipated from the Tigers in 2013, they delivered during a 8-3 destruction of the floundering New York Yankees.

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Prince Fielder bombed a couple home runs. Catcher Alex Avila hit the longest home run of the day, though, deep into the right field stands. The pitching from starter Doug Fister was OK. The bullpen, which was four innings of second-year left-hander Drew Smyly, was outstanding.

So the Tigers don't have anything remotely resembling an established closer. The issue was tabled to debate on a another day.

"It was a beautiful, sun-shiny day and the stars came out for us," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

The biggest star was Fielder. It wasn't a coincidence with Fielder hitting behind him, Miguel Cabrera, in 2012, became the first major league hitter since 1967 to win baseball's triple crown (leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBI) - and also captured the American League Most Valuable Player award.

Delmon Young, who hit behind Fielder in the order last season, was wildly inconsistent. Victor Martinez, the epitome of a professional hitter, is back after missing a season because of injury, and much more of a consistent threat than the departed Young. The theory is opposing pitchers wouldn't be able to pitch around Fielder as much this season because of Martinez. Friday, the theory proved to be true.

"He is a power hitter, but he is a better pure hitter than I thought he was," Leyland said of Fielder. "He had a lot of big hits for us last year.

"We're blessed to have Fielder and Cabrera. They both have power and are .300-type hitters."

Fielder had an underrated 2012 season. He was second in the major leagues with a .412 on-base percentage. He was fourth in the major leagues with a .940 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). Fielder hit .313.

Fielder is on track to hit 500-plus home runs in his career. He is a lifetime .286 hitter, but the value often overlooked about Fielder is how much he gets on base. His on-base percentage hasn't been below .400 since 2008. Fielder won't turn 29 until next month. The prime years for a major league ball player are between the ages of 27 and 33. It's entirely possible it's Fielder's turn to have an MVP season.

It's weird watching the Yankees struggle so mightily. A downfall is widely predicted because of age and injuries. It was compounded by a schedule that had the Yankees playing the Red Sox Thursday night in New York and the Tigers early Friday afternoon in Detroit.

Yet, it is the reality of 2013 Major League Baseball. The Yankees have been drummed out of the playoffs three of the past seven years by the Tigers. Detroit has won the 10 of the last 16 games between the two teams at Comerica Park. Friday's outcome was hardly a surprise.

Tigers' cast off Brennan Boesch hit fifth for the Yankees Friday. Undoubtedly, The Babe, The Iron Horse, Joltin Joe and The Mick were rolling around in their graves because of it.

Smyly lost the fifth starter competition to Rick Porcello in spring training, but he put himself on the road to winning it Friday. Porcello did not pitch particularly well while losing his first start at Minnesota.

Then again, the Yankees made Phil Coke look like a left-handed Dennis Eckersley during the American League Championship Series in 2012 - and that was before their rash of injuries.

As the Tigers lost 2-of-3 games to begin the season in Minnesota, there were concerns about a lack of hitting. Run production will not be an issue this year.